A study on the synthesis of (Ba,Ca)(Ti,Zr)O3 nano powders using Pechini polymeric precursor method

Abstract Pechini polymeric precursor method was successfully used to synthesize (Ba 0.95 Ca 0.05 )(Ti 0.85 Zr 0.15 )O 3 nano powders. The results of TG/DTA, XRD and IR analyses showed that by heating the precursor between 490 °C and 580 °C, an intermediate phase with possible composition of (Ba,Ca) 2 (Ti,Zr) 2 O 5 CO 3 was formed. Between 580 °C and 700 °C, the intermediate phase transformed to a crystalline solid solution by de-carbonation reaction. The transformation completed at 700 °C. Nano-sized powders with equivalent sphere diameters about 72 nm were obtained by calcination of the precursor at 700 °C for 4 h. The ceramics sintered at 1300 °C for 2 h can reach about 95% theoretical density and the peak dielectric constant is 15,000 at 70 °C.